Who wants to take the civil service exam after being reborn?

Chapter 473 Are Chen Zhe a family?

"Chen Zhe?"

The argument between Mr. Song and Professor Lu, a middle-aged couple, came to an abrupt end.

Even Song Shiwei, who had seemed to be "out of the loop," couldn't help but raise her head and look at her cousin Xiang Xiaohui.

"Auntie, your reactions suggest you've all heard of him. There shouldn't be anyone in China who doesn't know about [Zhongda Learning Network], right?"

Xiang Xiaohui said with a smile.

"Hmm...why are you asking about Chen?"

Lu Man's eyes looked a little strange.

Xiang Xiaohui didn't notice, and she was even less aware that her aunt's way of addressing Chen Zhe carried a familiar "casualness."

Xiang Xiaohui's husband is Liu Hongjian, who graduated from Peking University with a bachelor's degree, later pursued a master's degree at Wharton Business School, and now works for a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary.

He placed his hands on the table, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "We have something we'd like to ask..."

"cough!"

Liu Hongjian was only halfway through his sentence when Xiang Xiaohui, seemingly unwilling to let Wei Qi, an "outsider," puncture her aura, so she coughed to interrupt.

"We have some very important news that we plan to tell Chen Zhe."

Xiang Xiaohui replied with a smile, "After all, we are all Chinese, and we don't want to see him suffer a loss."

"Suffering a loss?"

Lu Man frowned. Could it be that Chen was facing some unknown danger?

She glanced at her daughter, and sure enough, a hint of concern appeared on the girl's usually calm and composed oval face.

"What crucial information?"

Song Zuomin, a seasoned leader of a state-owned enterprise who had seen his share of ups and downs, calmly pressed on with his questions.

He had clearly overheard that Liu Hongjian probably meant to say, "I have something I'd like to ask Chen to do," but Xiang Xiaohui had changed it at the last minute.

Although he didn't understand Xiang Xiaohui's intentions, Song Zuomin was quite curious. Chen Zhe and Liu Hongjian were from different cultures, one Chinese and one Western, one internal and one external. What could they possibly do to help Liu Hongjian?
"Oh dear, Uncle."

Taking advantage of her junior status, Xiang Xiaohui was unwilling to tell the truth and said in a coquettish tone, "You guys have so much influence in Guangzhou, could you help me get in touch with President Chen? It would be best if you could organize a dinner party, with Lao Liu and me hosting!"

Although Xiang Xiaohui pretended to be tough just now, her tone still subtly revealed her respect for Chen Zhe.

Everyone heard this.

Song Zuomin wasn't so easily fooled, and he smiled and dodged the question, saying, "You haven't specified what it is, how can we help you make contact?"

"I……"

Xiang Xiaohui was at a loss; her cultivation level was simply no match for Song Zuomin.

The good news is that, judging from his uncle's tone, he should be able to contact Chen Zhe.

Xiang Xiaohui hesitated for a moment. She had originally planned to use this news as a "pledge of allegiance" to exchange for some conditions from Chen Zhe.

Of course, revealing it here isn't out of the question, since Chen Zhe doesn't know anyway, and it can also highlight his network of connections as a "retainer" in front of Wei Qi.

Just as Xiang Xiaohui was hesitating, her mother, Lu Lin, couldn't help but ask, "Who... is Chen Zhe?"

Although Lu Lin is also a university professor, she has lived abroad with her daughter for a long time after retirement and knows very little about the news here. She really doesn't know about the currently popular Chen Zhe.

"You don't even know Chen Zhe?!"

The first question actually came from my grandmother, who is almost eighty years old.

"what?"

Lu Lin was also a little confused: "Mom, is this a celebrity in the entertainment industry?"

"They're way more impressive than celebrities in the entertainment industry!"

Grandma said with great interest, "He's a college student, but he's already able to talk to the world's richest man. His story has been all over the news lately, and the young man handled the interviews very well..."

My grandmother is probably getting old, so she sometimes speaks in a jumbled, illogical way.

However, young people have good memories and quickly pieced together Chen Zhe's story.

Liu Hongjian said that the world's richest man was his boss, Warren Buffett. He never expected that a young person under the age of 20 in China could dine at the same table with his boss.

Xiang Xiaohui said that recently many institutions on Wall Street have been focusing on retrospective analysis of their subsidiaries.

Lu Bingtang said that some Hong Kong media outlets have referred to Chen as one of the figures who have revitalized the declining economy, but he doesn't know whether they mean it sincerely or with sarcasm.

Even Wei Qi weakly added that Chen Zhe was not the kind of person who would only have a flash in the pan; he had already invested 2000 million yuan in the early stages to establish a software research institution in conjunction with two universities.

This shows that they have developed and grown in a step-by-step, planned, and systematic way.

Watching these younger generations praise Chen Zhe so enthusiastically, especially Xiang Xiaohui and Liu Hongjian, the couple actually bragged the most.

It was as if they wanted to elevate Chen to a very high position so that their respect and deference would not seem so humble.

"Um... it's not that amazing, is it?"

Lu Man felt she couldn't listen anymore.

If my "son-in-law" is so outstanding, wouldn't it make me look like a complete idiot if I had always rejected him?
Seeing the barely suppressed smile on her husband Song Zuomin's face, Professor Lu almost rolled her eyes at him.

"It might be due to opportunity."

Professor Lu adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and said as calmly as possible, "If it were Xiao Hui and Xiao Tang, with your experience abroad, I believe they could do even better."

"I can't do that!"

Xiang Xiaohui didn't understand her aunt's meaning at all. She even exaggeratedly expressed her fear: "Forget about the learning website, what I admire most is that Chen Zhe has the courage to start a real estate agency, the audacity to develop a mobile phone assistant for tracing back data, and the ability to combine the research resources of two universities..."

"I can't either."

Lu Bingtang also lacked backbone (in Professor Lu's eyes, admitting that he was inferior to Chen Zhe was a spineless act): "If I were in school, I might still have some unwillingness to admit defeat, but after working and facing reality, I stopped being stubborn."

"Although those reports only stated the outcome."

Lu Bingtang said with a grin, "But just thinking about it, I feel that each one is very difficult. Chen must have a very strong background. If he doesn't, he must have gone through a lot of hard work and negotiation. It seems like he didn't even have time to date."

Lu Man was taken aback. She hadn't expected that the two younger people would speak so highly of Chen Zhe.

Yu Guangzhong caught a glimpse of his daughter, who picked up her glass again and took a small sip.

Beneath her seemingly calm and beautiful face, her slender fingers were faintly white from exertion.

She seemed quite relieved that someone in her family understood Chen Zhe's hardships. So many romantic evenings that should have been spent together, strolling and talking, were instead spent with Chen Zhe socializing and working overtime.

However, Sweet Sister doesn't complain. She also has a career ambition. Meeting at the top is a true two-way journey of love.

Don’t stop chasing the wind and the moon, for the spring mountains are at the end of the plain!
"It's not necessarily true that I won't have time for dating!"

Professor Lu muttered something to himself and then looked at Liu Hongjian.

This nephew-in-law's resume is practically perfect. Last year, Liu Hongjian was even able to comment on domestic economic policies in front of her husband.

Although her husband later refuted her for being "ignorant of her own limitations," she certainly wouldn't directly admit that she was inferior to Chen Zhe like Lu Bingtang and Xiang Xiaohui did.

You are social elites studying at Ivy League schools!
"Hongjian".

Lu Man asked reluctantly, "If you had the right opportunities, you probably wouldn't be much worse than Chen Zhe, right?"

At this moment, Professor Lu is not obsessively determined to find someone who can "surpass" Chen Zhe, but rather she wants to "affirm" her own long-held beliefs.

"no!"

Liu Hongjian's unwavering answer momentarily stunned Professor Lu.

“If it were any other domestic graduate, I believe I could surpass them, but Chen…”

Liu Hongjian glanced at his wife. Xiang Xiaohui's eyes flickered, then she sighed softly. She hadn't wanted to show Wei Qi the hardships of her life.

After all, she and her husband were "noble children".

But since things had come to this point, it seemed pointless to continue clinging to the "false prosperity," so she nodded to her husband.

Having received permission, Liu Hongjian put down his chopsticks and gave a wry smile: "Auntie, to be honest, we originally intended to get to know Chen Zhe and ask him for help when we returned to China this time."

It turns out that the "Buffett Lunch" is not a one-on-one solo meal; the successful bidder can bring up to six people along.

Liu Hongjian hoped that he could be included in the list of six people and then be appreciated by the company's big boss.

"To get acquainted with Chen Zhe?"

Lu Man found it hard to understand. "Not as good as Chen Zhe" was already the limit of what she could accept. Why would you Wall Street elites need the help of Chen Zhe, a student from a school with a very low QS ranking?
Professor Lu, displaying his aloof and scholarly air, couldn't help but lecture, "If you want to gain the favor of the big boss, you should do so through your own efforts and performance, not through these backdoor methods."

"Auntie, you don't understand."

Xiang Xiaohui spoke up for her husband: "That's how it is abroad now. People have the ability but lack the channels to showcase it. Racial discrimination is also very serious. Lao Liu has been unfairly blamed many times, both openly and secretly, just because he's yellow-skinned. To be honest..."

The next sentence Xiang Xiaohui uttered in her indignation caused Lu Man's long-held values ​​to crack.

"I'm even thinking of going back to China to develop my career."

Xiang Xiaohui slammed her hand on the table in a fit of pique.

"Nonsense! Don't you have more potential than Chinese companies when you're on Wall Street?"

Lu Lin, Xiang Xiaohui's mother, had been hearing so much that she was gradually forming an image of Chen Zhe in her mind. But when she suddenly heard her daughter's indignant words, she quickly spoke up to stop her.

The mother and daughter spoke much more casually. Xiang Xiaohui scoffed, "Mom, you're just like Auntie, still holding onto the old ideas from twenty years ago."

"The United States in the last century was prosperous, free, and safe; it truly deserves to be called a beacon for humanity."

Xiang Xiaohui seems to have given up now, completely shedding the honor and pride of "keeping the child," and fiercely exposing her own wounds: "But now, the American economy has fallen into a dead end, but your impression of that place is still stuck in the last century!"

There are some things I don't dare tell you or my dad.

Xiang Xiaohui swirled her teacup, lowered her head, and said, "When we were in America, I told you not to go out after dark, not because I was afraid you would get lost, but because there are gunfights in downtown areas at night."

"Um... I applied to come to Hong Kong back then."

At this moment, Lu Bingtang gave an awkward laugh: "I just feel that Hong Kong is much, much safer after the handover."

The room suddenly fell silent.

Xiang Xiaohui's words were undoubtedly a shock to the ideas of Lu Lin and Lu Man, who were educated young people who grew up in the 1980s.

In the 1980s, during the reform and opening up period, various new ideas came in droves, and the United States was experiencing its most prosperous period of development in history.

Thus, the image of "a hot, beautiful woman wearing jeans, carrying a radio, dancing disco, and sporting blonde hair" was etched into the minds of Professor Lu's students like a brand.

Even after they read many books and became pillars and experts in various industries, they could never forget this white moonlight in their minds.

So they first tried to go abroad themselves, and if they didn't have the opportunity when they were young, they tried to send their children abroad.

Now their children are saying, "Mom and Dad, you're wrong. America is declining. Don't cling to your old, wrong ideas anymore..."

The private room was quiet. Even the waiter who served the dishes noticed that something was wrong and hurriedly left after putting down the plates.

But then, Wei Qi, this seemingly frail young girl, cruelly added insult to injury:

"My economics professor when I was in graduate school said that the future of the world...is in China."

"You're the only one who talks too much!"

Lu Bingtang couldn't help but stop him, thinking that this was just deliberately making things difficult for the elderly folks in the family.

"I'm not wrong!"

Wei Qi replied, clearly unconvinced.

Their voices weren't loud, but they reached everyone's ears.

Xiang Xiaohui felt a pang of bitterness in her heart. In truth, stripped of the hypocritical "Emperor's New Clothes," what right did she have to look down on Wei Qi?
Perhaps the ideological education lesson was a bit heavy, because Lu Lin and Lu Man frowned silently, and no one touched the dishes on the table.

Aside from Song Zuomin, he was so happy he wanted to eat two more bowls of rice.

Song Zuomin is a leader of a state-owned enterprise and has a clear understanding of the development issues between China and the United States. However, he has been unable to change his wife's perception, which is quite frustrating.

In the past, for the sake of family harmony, he did not insist on opposing his daughter's plan to go abroad.

In short, you can learn something. As for safety, you can just live in a high-end community.

Unexpectedly, my wife seems to have come to her senses today.

"Hey, garlic bird, garlic bird."

Song Zuomin offered a hypocritical attempt to smooth things over: "Learning is both domestically and internationally. We should focus more on what children learn, rather than where they learn. Let's skip this ideological issue for now and have dinner first."

"Xiao Hui, do you want to see Chen Zhe?"

Song Zuomin took out his phone.

"Yes."

Xiang Xiaohui was taken aback for a moment, then immediately said with delight, "Is Uncle-in-law going to help make the match? Then we should prepare some gifts, right? And where should we eat? Should we change to Bingsheng?"

"Why go through all that trouble?"

Song Zuomin leisurely dialed the number, and while waiting for the call to connect, he casually said, "Just call Chen over for lunch."

"what?"

Liu Hongjian and Xiang Xiaohui thought they had misheard.

Once the call connected, the conversation began:
"Chen Zhe, what are you doing?"

"..."

"Oh, the interview just ended? Do you have lunch planned?"

"..."

"Weiwei's cousin has something she wants to ask. Would it be convenient for you to come over and eat together? If it's too much trouble, then it's okay."

"..."

"Then come over here, Lei Garden 301."

"..."

Liu Hongjian and Xiang Xiaohui looked at each other in bewilderment.

It seems that my uncle-in-law made a phone call and immediately brought Chen Zhe, who was about to attend a social event, over.

And his tone was so "casual" that Xiang Xiaohui even began to doubt whether the person opposite her was Chen Zhe.

Otherwise, even an executive director of CITIC wouldn't have this ability; this is practically a conversation between a father and son.

and many more!

A thought suddenly popped into Xiang Xiaohui's mind.

My aunt's husband has no son, so they can't be father and son. But there is a relationship that is not father and son but similar to that of father and son!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Her heart pounded faster than usual, and Xiang Xiaohui's throat bobbed, her voice suddenly becoming hoarse: "Uncle, if President Chen is coming, should we order another table of dishes?"

"Need not!"

Song Zuomin waved his hand, making a grand gesture: "We're family, there's no need to be so polite."

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(End of this chapter)